National historical park
State park · Northern Utah
Antelope Island State Park
The largest island in the Great Salt Lake, with free-roaming bison, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, salty beaches and huge sunsets. Reached by a seven-mile causeway.
Photo: dconvertini · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Antelope Island is a mountain ridge rising from the Great Salt Lake, reached by a causeway from Syracuse. Its grasslands are home to a herd of several hundred bison, as well as pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mule deer and coyotes. The causeway and shores are among the best birding spots in the West, with huge flocks of shorebirds in spring and fall.
Trails climb to Frary Peak, the island’s high point, and loop around Buffalo Point and Elephant Head. Bridger Bay Beach lets you float in the salty water when lake levels allow. The historic Fielding Garr Ranch, one of the oldest buildings in Utah, sits on the island’s southeast side, and the annual bison roundup in late October and November is a spectacle.
Don't miss
- Bison herdSeveral hundred free-roaming bison, often visible from the road.
- Fielding Garr RanchA ranch house dating to 1848, among the oldest Anglo buildings in Utah.
- Frary PeakA strenuous hike to the island’s summit, with views across the lake.
- Buffalo PointA short climb to a viewpoint over the lake and the Wasatch.
- Causeway birdingAvocets, stilts, phalaropes and other shorebirds by the thousands.
- Bison roundupAn annual fall event where the herd is gathered for health checks.
Good to know
- Give bison plenty of room, at least 100 feet. They are fast and unpredictable.
- Bring insect repellent from late spring through summer; the no-see-ums can be fierce.
- Sunset from the island, looking west across the lake, is one of the best in Utah.
Also in Northern Utah
State park